There are a lot of different ways to power a watch. Some use motion, others, a winding mechanism, others a battery, some lithium ion powered, but the best in my book is solar.
Solar powered watches are powered by any light source, even ambient lighting in your home or office. Spring powered watches both wind up and motion powered can last up to about 40 hours. Battery powered watches can run for a few hours – if it’s a smart watch, to maybe 2-10 years depending on features, usage, and design. a solar watch like those made by Citizen, Casio, or Seiko can run for two decades if well maintained – and to maintain them, all that’s really needed is to wear them. Manufactures also recommend you get the seals checked about every 2 years if you plan to take them in to water.
My ideal watch has the following complications and features:
1: Day, Date, Day of the week: I work from home and often lose track of what day it is. I like to have it on my wrist. I really like it when the full day of the week is spelled out at the 12 o’clock position.
2: Moon Phase: handy for tracking the menstrual cycle, and determining if it’s safe to conduct operations or raids at night. 🤣
3: Radio or Satellite Control: I like my watches to be accurate and this does the trick.
4: Chronograph: For timing things forwards
5: Timer: For timing things backwards – I use this a lot when doing tri-tips or waiting to snipe an auction.
6: Backlight: Most analogue watches don’t have an LED, though some Timex models have indiglo, and Casio models usually do. These watches are on the lower end of the watch spectrum when it comes to materials, fit and finish, and price.
Most watch enthusiasts prefer an automatic watch. It’s considered a step up from “mall watches” which most quartz powered watches are, and it’s considered to be more sophisticated. I think they’re great watches and I have a few automatics and manual wind watches but for daily reliability, to me, the solar powered watch is hard to beat.
These watches just work, day in, day out, as long as they get some exposure to light. Some models can set themselves which means they’re always accurate, and unlike smartwatches they don’t need to be taken off every 8 hours and recharged, plus they preserve privacy by not having tons of microphones and sensors all over them.
If you saw my last post you already know I’m starting a watch business but many small watch sellers like to carry high end models like Rolex, Omega, or Tag Heuer leaving fine Japanese quartz watches to big box stores and specialty stores. I think there is an opportunity to focus on these watches in particle, though I will also sell automatics if I can find them at the right price and condition.
I’ll be posting more about this and you can follow along by coming back to this blog. I’ll also be sharing content on my Instagram which you can find by searching my name.